比特币（BTC）与以太坊（ETH）：哪种加密货币是更好的投资？

加密货币国王比特币（BTC）之间存在长期的竞争

There's a long-standing rivalry between the king of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC -0.52%), and the coin that many have considered to be the heir to the throne, Ethereum (ETH -1.75%).

加密货币国王，比特币（BTC -0.52％）与许多人认为是王位的继承人以太坊（ETH -1.75％）之间存在了长期的竞争。

But there aren't actually too many similarities between these two, despite what their competition suggests. And there's a much stronger case for buying a lot of one than there is for the other, so let's dive in and analyze the situation.

但是，尽管他们的竞争暗示了这两者，但实际上并没有太多相似之处。而且有一个比另一个购买的要多得多的案例，所以让我们潜入并分析情况。

Bitcoin banks on "scarcity" to drive value

比特币银行“稀缺”以推动价值

Bitcoin is both a store of value and to a lesser extent a medium of exchange, fulfilling two of the canonical properties of money. Its value is created by demand from investors who recognize its "scarcity".

比特币既是价值的存储，又是较小程度的交换媒介，可以满足两种货币规范性能。它的价值是由认识到其“稀缺性”的投资者的需求创造的。

Due to Bitcoin's supply dynamics, such as the constantly increasing difficulty mining it, it is more favorable for investors to buy it at the price offered today than in the future, when prices are likely to be higher because the coin will be scarcer on a relative basis.

由于比特币的供应动态（例如挖掘难度不断增加），投资者以今天提供的价格购买比将其购买比将来更高的价格更有利，因为价格可能会更高，因为硬币在相对基础上会稀少。

So long investors believe in that investment thesis, those who buy it today can safely assume that there will be someone willing to buy it from them at some point in the future.

这么长的投资者相信这一投资论文，今天购买它的人可以安全地认为将来有人愿意从他们那里购买它。

Note that even in this idealized view of Bitcoin, there's no guarantee that future prices will be higher for you if you buy and hold it; but there is a mechanism by which prices can be expected to rise on average over the long term, even if the aggregate amount of demand stays static over that period.

请注意，即使在这种理想化的比特币观点中，也无法保证如果您购买并持有它的未来价格会更高。但是有一种机制，即使在此期间的总需求量保持静态，预计价格可以长期平均上涨。

Ethereum thrives off its ecosystem

以太坊从其生态系统中蓬勃发展

Ethereum is also a store of value and a medium of exchange. But because it's the main coin of its chain, where there's an entire ecosystem of tokens, it additionally has a utility value, as it's a necessary ingredient for paying gas fees when interacting with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs), issuing smart contracts, and other functions.

以太坊也是一种价值和交换媒介。但是，由于它是整个代币生态系统的主要硬币，因此它还具有实用价值，因为它是与分散的融资（DEFI）应用相互作用时支付汽油费的必要成分，即铸造非杀伤性代币（NFTS），发出智能合同以及其他功能。

When the value of projects hosted on its chain increase because they're successful, it thus ends up increasing the total value associated with the chain, pumping up the price of Ethereum in the process.

当托管在其链上的项目的价值增加是因为它们成功时，它最终会增加与链条相关的总价值，从而在此过程中提高以太坊的价格。

The reverse is also true; if investors aren't buying what Ethereum's application developers are offering as token-based products or services on the chain, there won't be as much capital flowing in or staying invested.

相反也是正确的；如果投资者不购买以太坊的应用程序开发人员所提供的产品，而不是链条上的基于令牌的产品或服务，则不会有那么多资本流入或保留投资。

So for Ethereum to continue attracting more capital inflows in the future than it has today, it needs to continue developing its core blockchain technology to make its chain a more attractive place for developers and investors alike. If it doesn't consistently match its technical capabilities to what's in demand, talent and capital will go elsewhere.

因此，要使以太坊继续吸引未来的资本流入比今天，它需要继续开发其核心区块链技术，以使其连锁店成为开发人员和投资者都更具吸引力的地方。如果它不始终如一地将其技术能力与需求的需求，人才和资本将移至其他地方。

Consequently, it faces a high risk of competitors attracting its human and financial resources with faster, cheaper, or more efficient services.

因此，它面临竞争对手以更快，更便宜或更有效的服务吸引人力和财务资源的高风险。

This means Ethereum's position is inherently more unstable than Bitcoin's. On one hand it's doubtlessly exposed to more opportunities for growth, as the chain's leaders can pick emerging market segments and attempt to adapt its technology to serve those segments efficiently.

这意味着以太坊的位置本质上比比特币的位置更不稳定。一方面，毫无疑问，这是毫无疑问的增长机会，因为该连锁店的领导者可以选择新兴的市场领域，并试图调整其技术以有效地为这些细分市场服务。

On the other hand, it also faces the constant grinding of capital outflows to newer chains and coins that may be better at niche tasks than what it's easily able to serve or modify itself to serve efficiently.

另一方面，它还面临着资本外流的不断磨削到新的链条和硬币上，这些链条和硬币可能比在利基任务上更好地磨损，而不是它容易地服务或修改自身以有效服务。

Ethereum probably won't go to zero as long as it roughly serves most developer and investor needs adequately enough, but it's easy to imagine a future in which it is slowly picked apart by specialists whose only ambitions are to win in smaller segments, like music or sports applications on the blockchain.

以太坊可能不会达到零，只要它粗略地为大多数开发人员提供服务，并且投资者需要足够的时间，但是很容易想象未来的未来是由专家逐渐被逐渐挑选的，他们的唯一野心就是在较小的细分市场中获胜，例如在区块链上的音乐或体育应用程序。

Fewer functionalities means fewer ways to get one-upped

更少的功能意味着更少的单一方法

Ethereum's history so far indicates that the risk of competitors eating its lunch are not merely theoretical. Cardano, which is currently the ninth-largest cryptocurrency, was developed specifically as a response to Ethereum's perceived failings.

迄今为止，以太坊的历史表明，吃午餐的竞争对手的风险不仅是理论上的。 Cardano目前是第九大加密货币，是专门针对以太坊的感知失败的回应。

And Solana, while heavily influenced by Ethereum as well, is largely notable because it succeeds where Ethereum doesn't, as it offers less expensive and much faster transactions. Coins developed to compete with Bitcoin, specifically Litecoin, are far smaller, and also far less relevant in the crypto landscape.

索拉纳（Solana）虽然也受到以太坊的严重影响，但在很大程度上是值得注意的，因为它在以太坊没有的情况下成功了，因为它提供了便宜较低且交易速度更快。为与比特币（特别是莱特币）竞争而开发的硬币要小得多，并且在加密景观中的相关性远不那么重要。

This is thus a case where less is more. Bitcoin is hard to usurp because it was developed first, and its unchanging nature is actually part of its appeal, as there are fewer opportunities for it to take a wrong turn relative to industry trends.

因此，在这种情况下更少。比特币很难篡夺，因为它是首先开发的，而且其不变的性质实际上是其吸引力的一部分，因为相对于行业趋势而言，它的机会更少。

Ethereum is already beset by competitors on all sides, and there is little chance that the playing field will shift in its favor, even over the long term.

以太坊已经被各方的竞争对手所困扰了，即使从长远来看，运动场也很少会改变其受益。

So between these two coins, especially right now, when Ethereum is struggling against enemies big and small, Bitcoin is the better place to invest your $5,000. There's a chance that Ethereum will still grow faster anyway, but the balance of risk and reward for buying it is not appealing at the moment.

因此，在这两枚硬币（尤其是现在）之间，当以太坊正在与敌人大小斗争时，比特币是投资5,000美元的更好地方。无论如何，以太坊的可能性仍然会更快，但是购买风险和回报的平衡目前尚不吸引人。